


i'm trying to find my direction home (a question of space, a matter of time)

by ElectricPurple89



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alice and Eliot become friends, Alice and Margo and Eliot go on a quest, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eliot gets a pocket watch, Multi, Time Travel Fix-It, the dwarves aren't exactly like Jane remembered, this has become a kind of season 3 and season 4 and season 5 au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22154299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricPurple89/pseuds/ElectricPurple89
Summary: "Come in" He heard Alice call from within, after he knocked on her bedroom door.She was at her desk working on papers, probably for the Library if he had to take a guess."I found something." The smile on his face as he said those words was something that couldn't be helped.Alice leaned back in her chair and looked up at him, "What?" She questioned.He handed her the book, sat down on the edge of her bed, watched her open to the page he'd bookmarked and the passage he'd highlighted and waited for the inevitable no."You can't be serious?" She asked, having read the part he'd highlighted."So very serious my dear Alice."Her mouth opened and closed again like she kept wanting to say something but it wasn't coming out."No, go ahead tell me how awful this idea is, how we can't do that Eliot, the what about all the timeline consequences Eliot? I don't give one flying fuck about any of that.""That's not what I was going to say." She said giving him a look. "I was going to say that it might actually work,you dummy." She told him, getting up from her desk and sitting next to him on the bed,  gently nudging his shoulder with hers.
Relationships: 23rd Timeline William "Penny" Adiyodi/Julia Wicker, Fen/Margo Hanson, Kady Orloff-Diaz/Alice Quinn, Past Quentin Coldwater/Alice Quinn - Relationship, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	i'm trying to find my direction home (a question of space, a matter of time)

**Author's Note:**

> So this started out as a fic where Fogg had used the memory spell on them again as a way of understanding why they hadn't gotten Q back, but then I got stuck and couldn't figure out where to take it and then I got this idea of what if Eliot went and got a pocket watch and so I added both ideas and I think they work and I think this is good, but i hope you like it. 
> 
> Also of note Fogg is just doing his usual thing of trying to do the right thing, but it backfires on him, but then he helps them so. 
> 
> the title comes from the song 'Of Space and Time' by City and Colour.
> 
> Chapters 2-4 may not be as long as this one, but we will see.

The bright early afternoon sun shining through the slats of the shades of windows in the lab woke him from his drunken sleep. He blinked his eyes open in the presence of the light, realizing he was uncomfortably scrunched up on one of the window seats. How long had he been passed out, he wasn’t sure. He couldn't remember how much he'd had to drink. 

He turned to the noise of someone clearing their throat with the intention of getting his attention. Alice. Of course it was Alice. She had a habit of keeping tabs on him ever since Margo went back to Fillory after they defeated the Dark King. Who turned out to be Plover, so that was nice to finally strip the spell off of him and end him once and for all. The joy was short-lived though as he came back to an empty bedroom with no Quentin in sight. Which is why he was where he was. He came here now and then, the closest place to where he lost everything. The place Q had gone to destroy the thing he'd let loose in the world and had never come back from.

“Fogg’s been altering our memories again, like he did before you know after Blackspire.” She told him. Just like always Alice got to the point of the matter at hand. She didn't even bring up how she'd found him. It had happened enough times that now she just went straight into what she needed to tell him. 

“Why?” He lifted his head up and looked at her, but it sounded like a raspy whisper. She held out her hand and there were two pills in it. 

“Take these. You'll need a clear head." She told him as he telekinetically moved the ibuprofen from her to himself and then magicked a glass of water as well. She waited until he was sitting instead of being horizontal and then took a seat next to him, reaching for his hand, "We’ve failed in trying to get Quentin back too many times, probably wants to stop us from trying.” She said Q’s name in a whisper like a prayer."

He couldn’t remember trying anything to get Q back. They’d just gotten back from Fillory, hadn’t they? What the fuck was going on? He stretched his legs a little while he thought about it. 

“Something was off, so I cornered him. We have apparently petitioned both Hades and Thanatos, tried about ten spells, and we even had you try the Orpheus and Euripides tale. They all failed. Nothing fucking worked! Eliot, none of those things brought him back!” Her voice got louder and she had to pause a few times to wipe tears from her eyes. 

He turned towards her and wrapping his arms around her, he brought her into a tight hug. Her sobs became muffled into his waistcoat. 

"So, we've tried everything?" He asked softly as he kissed her hair. 

She released herself from the hug, fixed her glasses and nodded in affirmation. 

All those years ago he never would have guessed this is where they'd be, close friends. After coming back from Fillory, Alice was the only one who knew. There were many nights of alcohol induced feelings talks. Alice understood more than anyone his feelings about Quentin. She'd thought there might be something when Q had been on his journey to get Eliot back, but never broached the subject with Quentin before he did what he did. 

"Shall we go talk to our dear Dean?" 

"I already yelled at him, El." She replied with a sigh.

"Yes, but I haven't." He replied trying to bring back that lilt of his voice he had when he was trying to hide the pain. He took her hand as they walked from the lab to the Dean's office.

~~~~

"Waugh. Quinn." Henry said in that annoyed voice of his when they entered The Dean's office. Fogg was sitting back in his chair, his hands folded across his lap. 

"My dear friend Alice has been telling me you've been altering our memories again." He kept his tone even as he and Alice sat down in the chairs. 

Henry's face softened, "You know in almost every timeline, you and Quentin have gotten together in some way. I shouldn't be surprised that you would try to get him, but when your attempts failed I thought it best to try and stop you from another one."

"Whatever your reasoning you shouldn't be changing them! So we failed a few times, I'll fail a million times before I stop trying and altering my memories isn't going to change that!" He hadn't realized he'd stood up in the middle of his lecture. 

Henry made a face again, but then said "Fine. You've tried everything, I can't imagine there's anything more so yes I will stop erasing your attempts from your minds. You were going to keep trying and one of the Gods or spells you tried was going to not agree with you. I was trying to minimize the fallout." 

"They really didn't work?" Eliot questioned a little quieter once he was seated again. 

"No. I'm told you made Hades laugh, but apparently Thanatos was more understanding. He called the other day, Hades, said your attempts whatever else you tried would be futile anyway. Quentin has moved on, were Hades' words." Henry looked at Eliot with a look of understanding and Eliot hated it. 

"Well that's fucking bullshit!" Eliot cried out at him. Alice squeezed his arm in a comforting gesture.

"We'll find a way, Henry. We'll bring him back somehow and now that I know about the memory alterations, I've created charms for all of us that will block any future attempts of mind alteration." Alice told Henry before they walked out of the office.   
  


"I meant what I said." Alice told him once they were in the hallway, "There's a way and we have a will." 

~~~~

They walked in silence back to the portal that would take him to the penthouse and once back, Alice helped him to his room. 

When he wasn't drunk or passed out in the lab he was drunk or passed it asleep here in his bedroom. He and Alice had moved a bunch of Quentin's stuff from the cottage here when they were officially back. 

It was quiet here. Sometimes he liked the quiet, not having anyone around, but other times he hated it. Mostly just Alice, Kady and him stayed here. 

It being just the three of them, he knew Alice and Kady had started something, but they hadn't told him anything yet. He'd seen Alice come out of Kady's room more than a few times looking a little disheveled. 

23 was off god knows where trailing after Julia, who'd been trying to get her Goddess powers back, like a little puppy dog.

Margo of course was ruling in Fillory with Fen. After, getting Josh and Fen back they had cured the werewolf thing. Josh had stuck around Fillory to become the royal chef and met a nice girl from the village. 

"Want some lunch? Kady ordered a pizza." Alice said as she leaned against the doorframe of his room. 

He didn’t answer her, just stared up at the ceiling from his bed. 

"With the amount of alcohol I'm pretty sure you drank last night you should really eat something, Eliot. I'll just, I’ll bring you up a plate and then we can make a new plan." Alice told him after he didn't answer her and then she turned to leave. 

Nodding in agreement, he turned and hugged the pillow he’d wrapped one of Q’s sweaters around and inhaled. He was tired. Exhausted really. Knowing they'd tried and failed so many times. What of Hades was right. He wanted a drink.   
  
  


“Here.” Alice said a little while later, as she handed him a plate and a glass of water as he sat up against the headboard. She sat down on the bed next to him, crossing her legs. “So I can look through some more books when I go back to the Library tomorrow, maybe Zelda knows which spells we’ve already cast.”

“I’m so tired Alice. I'm exhausted at having this piece of me missing. I miss him so fucking much. A part of me is gone and if we’ve done everything that Henry said we did then what else can we do?” 

She pursed her lips, straightened her glasses and looked at him, “I honestly don’t know, but I know us and I know there has to be something we’re missing. I miss him too. I was so angry at him for doing that, but now I’m just sad and I miss him and I want my friend back.”

He moved the water glass to the nightstand with his mind, so he could take her hand in his and he squeezed it, trying to comfort her. 

~~~~

After Alice had left again, he telekinetically shut the door, turned on some music, and floated the Fillory book he had been reading over to him on the bed. 

Knowing the whole story and having been to Fillory it was a different kind of experience reading the books, but they were Q’s favorite song he made an exception. He could picture his little supernerd’s face every time Quentin had tried to explain some detail about them. A smile came to his face thinking about Quentin explaining something about them to him. 

_“With a bellowing bleat Ember summoned the Cozy Horse, and together they mounted it’s broad velvet back and set off to see the dwarves. Swing players at the best of times, the dwarves could never be relied upon to cooperate with anybody, but they were convinced that Martin was dangerous, and besides, all that wind was blowing the topsoil off their beloved underground warrens. They fashioned for Jane a silver pocket watch, a work of consummate horological mastery, so dense with tiny gears and cams and glorious spiral springs that its interior was a solid teeming mass of gleaming clockwork. With it the dwarves explained, Jane could control the flow of time itself---turn it forward, turn it back, speed it up, slow it down---as she liked.”_

What the FUCK?! He sat up straight in bed and read the passage over and over again. Jane's pocket watch, of course! Why hadn't this thought occurred to him before? It was perfect! He could petition the dwarves, he could reset time, he could bring Quentin back and he could stop any of this shit from happening!

He needed to find Alice. He needed her help. If everything else had failed, maybe resetting time would fix everything. It would mean a second chance with Quentin. A chance he wouldn't give up for anything. 

~~~~

"Come in" He heard Alice call from within, after he knocked on her bedroom door.

She was at her desk working on papers, probably for the Library if he had to take a guess. 

"I found something." The smile on his face as he said those words was something that couldn't be helped. 

Alice leaned back in her chair and looked up at him, "What?" She questioned. 

He handed her the book, sat down on the edge of her bed, watched her open to the page he'd bookmarked and the passage he'd highlighted and waited for the inevitable no. 

"You can't be serious?" She asked, having read the part he'd highlighted. 

"So very serious my dear Alice."

Her mouth opened and closed again like she kept wanting to say something but it wasn't coming out.

"No, go ahead tell me how awful this idea is, how we can't do that Eliot, the what about all the timeline consequences Eliot? I don't give one flying fuck about any of that." 

"That's not what I was going to say." She said giving him a look. "I was going to say that it might actually work,you dummy." She told him, getting up from her desk and sitting next to him on the bed, gently nudging his shoulder with hers.

"Wait what?" Alice agreeing with him was something that made him feel like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. "I didn't prepare for this scenario. I had a whole plan of what I was going to tell you."

"I could yell at you if you'd like?" A bright smile came across her face as she teased him.

"No, it's alright." He sighed a little at not having to defend this choice of action more. "You really think this could work?" 

"It could. I need to do some calculations first. Maybe Julia and I could look into it. There are some horomancy books at the Library I'd like to read it we're really doing this." 

"How long do you want?" 

"Give me two weeks Eliot. I want to make sure and then we'll go to the dwarves together."

"I can live with two weeks. I mean we've lived without him for nine months, what's two more weeks?" 

"Eliot, I told you we'd get him back and I meant it. If this is the way then it'll happen. Have you really, really thought about this? How much would you change?"

Letting out a deep breath and laying back on her bed he told her, "The first thing that came to mind was that I'd go all the way back to the throne room."

He heard a sharp intake of breath, "El." Alice said softly. 

"I know, but if I had told him yes, if we actually had made a go of it, then everything would have been different. I mean he didn't ask me in a great way, but if I hadn't turned him down so harshly then maybe things would have turned out okay."

"All the way back to the key quest? That's a lot of time, Eliot. I need to definitely do some research about the effects of changing that much. Would we all retain our memories?" Alice questioned.

"I don't know. I don't want to be the only one who remembers."

"I'll talk to Zelda and I'll talk with Fogg. If I could get it so there's a limited number of us that remember than that could work. We could save magic and the Library and Quentin all in one go." Oh she was getting excited he realized. Her eyes were gleaming with the possibilities of what they could do.

"Look at you Wonderland, getting excited about a quest and time travel." He said with a smile. 

She pursed her lips and gave him a look, "It's more than that that I'm eager about and you know it." She laid down beside him.

"You think we'll do a good job if we die everything a second time?" 

"I hope so. I mean we'll know how to get the other keys, we know where to find the lycanthropy cure, we know what to do about Everett, we know what to do about Charlton and the monsters, I know I don't want to get back with Q and I don't want to do what I did the first time, you know you want to be with Quentin and be better than you were." 

"That's a lot to change when you say it all out loud."

"Yeah." She replied softly.

"So how long after we reset time will you get together with Kady?" 

"What?" Alice asked all flustered like.

"You two are not that stealthy and there are only three people living here." He told her with a smile and a little laugh. 

Alice threw a pillow at him which meant they were done on that subject. 

~~~~

Two weeks. Two weeks of Fogg lecturing at them, reminding them of all thirty-nine timelines he had to live through because Jane fucking Chatwin couldn't do time magic right. Two weeks of Zelda trying to talk them out of it and reminding them that horomancy is a very tricky thing. Two weeks of Kady, Alice, Julia, Margo, 23, Josh and him all huddled around the living room in the penthouse trying to make a spreadsheet of everything they would have to do right this time. 

He wasn't even sure what was going to happen to 23 when they went back and they sure as hell weren't going to talk to Marina about their plan. 

Kady had been the next person to know after he had talked with Alice and Kady had been surprisingly on board from the get go. She kept saying she missed the nerd and she could punch him for what he did if they brought him back. 

Margo had called him an idiot for not telling her sooner, but softened when he told her how far they would be resetting time. She also told him that she would be accompanying him and Alice to the dwarves which he of course was fine with. The more time he got to spend with his Bambi, the better. She was also happy she'd be able to have a do over with the Faeries.

He had pulled Fen aside and told her would probably ask her for a divorce when they went back in time, so he could be with Quentin. She was a little more than okay with that since she figured she might be able to have a chance to get with Margo sooner. 

Josh was just excited to both get the cure a lot earlier than he had and that Bacchus wouldn't be dead anymore. Josh had missed that God a lot. 

Alice and Julia spent a lot of time in the lab making sure they wouldn't be making a time loop or anything. They also finally came up with a spell that would let everyone they gave it to retain their memories of what had transpired since Eliot spoke with Quentin in the throne room. He was glad they had found a way, he had meant it when he didn't want to be the only one who remembered what had happened. 

They had made a list of everyone they'd have to give the spell to or who they needed to cast it on. Of course themselves, a few of Kady's hedges, some librarians, Zelda, Harriet, Fogg, Lipson, some of the Fillorian court including Rafe and Tick, and _Todd_. 

Towards the end of the two weeks he was dragged by Alice and Julia to the Clockbarrens to talk with Jane about their plan. Jane had laughed at them, wished them luck and told them a little about how she got the pocket watch in the first place. She didn't add too much more than what he had read in the book, but she did give them a little more insight into the dwarves. 

~~~~

"Alright, you two ready?" Kady asked them as he and Alice got ready to portal to Fillory. Kady had come back early from her meeting with her Hedges to say goodbye to them.

"I think so" He answered her, "I'll give you two a moment." He added as he walked away from them. Kady and Alice both gave him a look. 

"He saw us apparently." Alice told Kady and Kady gave him another look. 

"Yes, I saw Alice leave your room, now give your girlfriend a kiss and a hug so I can go get my boyfriend." 

He walked out onto the balcony to give them a little more privacy. Would be nice to have a drink while he was outside, but he'd cut back since they had decided to turn back time. 

Alice came out to get him after a little bit and gave his arm a good squeeze. 

"Thanks for giving us a moment, but I'm ready to go find some dwarves if you are?" She told him as they walked over to the portal. 

Kady gave them both a hug before they walked through it. It was weird they hadn't done this hugging thing ever he and Kady, but he understood and it was nice.

~~~~

Josh gave all three of them each a small pack with lunches and food for the trek. It had all looked delicious when he'd peeked inside. 

Fen sat them all down and gave them a little lecture on do's and don'ts in talking with the dwarves. He knew they'd be wise to listen to her as she was Fillorian and they weren't. 

Rafe and Tick gave them their two cents as well. Eliot was sure Abigail was going to say something, but thankfully Rafe never translated it she had. 

"I'm ready to go get a pocket watch if you two are?" Margo said as they walked out of the castle and towards the road that would lead them to where the dwarves lived. 

"I'm a little scared, Bambi, but I'm here and we're doing this. I need him. We need him." He answered her. Taking both their hands he said, "Bambi, Wonderland, let's go reset time and get Quentin back!"

~~~~

They had only been on the path for almost five hours when they stopped for the night. It was too dark to continue, so they set up camp in a little clearing nearby. 

The tent looked small on the outside, a little cream canvas a-frame, but inside it was large. There were three separate bedrooms, a living/dining area with a kitchenette, and a bathroom. Tea lights were strung up across the ceiling, there were rugs and a comfy couch and a little table. In each room was an elegant bed. There was even a little wine fridge in the kitchenette. 

Alice and Margo sat down at the table to plan out their next day, and he would have joined them but he was so exhausted. He just wanted to get some sleep. The bed looked almost like the one he had or has still rather in Whitespire. It was more comfortable though. 

  
  
  


"Morning." He greeted Alice and Margo groggily as he walked towards the freshly brewed coffee. 

"Morning El." Margo replied and kissed his cheek as he sat down at the table. 

"Morning." Alice said as she looked up from the map she was studying again. 

"Didn't you two figure out our path for today last night?" 

"I did but I wanted to check a few more things. The witch that took Quentin's blood is near our stopping point for today." Alice replied, this time not looking up at him.

"We don't need his blood, we're resetting time." Margo said.

"I know, but we should take it back anyway. Blood magic is dangerous and I'd rather it be in our hands." 

"Now that that's settled when do we set off?" He asked. 

"We were waiting for someone to wake up." Margo replied with a little smirk. 

"Well I'm up, so let's get going then shall we."   
  
  


A quick tut once they had their packs on and were outside turned the tent into a pocket-sized piece of cloth which he put into a little zipper pocket of his pack. 

Alice took the lead for the day and he and Margo followed her through the forest. 

It reminded him of the key quest, when he and Q were on the way to the Mosaic. The path was old and overgrown, but it hadn't mattered because they were together and they were going to get a key. There were points of overgrowth on this path as well and the memories brought a sad smile to his face. 

They were going to get Quentin back and he was going to be brave. He had felt so defeated when he'd woken up and Margo had told him about Q, but now he was going to do the brave thing. He was going to look Quentin in those beautiful eyes of his and say yes. 

The sun was high in the sky as they finally stopped for lunch. He set out a little blanket for them. 

"We should get to the dwarves by tomorrow evening." Margo said in between bites of the sandwich she was eating.

"We should try walking a little more today, so we don't get there too late tomorrow. There's another clearing a little farther on from our original stopping point that would be good." Alice added. 

He nodded in agreement with them.

~~~~

Margo was on his bed in his room in the tent. She was sitting up against the headboard and his head was in her lap. 

Alice was talking to Kady through an enchanted mirror in the common room. 

"I've missed this." Margo said thoughtfully, running her hands through his hair. 

"Me too." He answered turning his head to look at her. 

"I'm glad you've had Alice with you. I know it's been hard for me to come back from Fillory all the time and I'm glad you've had her to keep you company." 

"It's been good. We've become really good friends. I don't know how, but we have. You're still my number one though, Bambi."

"No shit!" she laughed. 

"You're right though, it has been nice to have Alice and Kady around while you can't be there. I am glad you got your throne back." 

"Me too. I love it, El and I'm good at it and well Fen and I have become good co-rulers."

"You've also become good girlfriends." He laughed.

"Well, that's a very good plus. Fen is so amazing! Oh this thing she does with her tongue." Margo got caught up in her memory and he laughed again, leaning up on an elbow to kiss her. 

"Are you really okay with this? There's so much we'll have to do over." 

"I am. It'll be nice to do all the stuff with the Faeries. This time the Queen won't have to die and we can take out Irene before she fucks everything up. Are you going to tell Quentin after we reset time, that you changed everything?"

"I don't know. I agree it'll be good to not have the McAllisters on our back, but on that last point I'm scared Bambi. I will definitely have to tell him, but I'm not sure when or how. What if I tell him and it all goes wrong?" 

"It won't and you know that Eliot. He loves you and you love him and he'll understand. It might take him a little bit to get used to the idea." She told him as she made little braids in his hair. 

"I hope you're right, Margo." He replied with a little bit of doubt in his voice.

"I am right, so just trust me El. Okay?"

"Okay"

"Now tell me all about Kady and Alice and how long they've been together!"

~~~~

They got a little sidetracked on the third day of the trek as Alice wanted to get the vile of Quentin's blood from the old witch. She did get it, but she didn't tell either Margo or Eliot what the price was. He hoped it wasn't anything too much like memories. Maybe the witch just wanted a spell. That was the best he could hope for. 

Alice put the vial into her pack and told them all not to worry about it. 

Even with the little extra trip to the witch they still made it to the dwarves before nightfall. He let his pack fall from his back and leaned against a tree as he grasped the fact that he was finally here. He was finally at the dwarves' warren. 

"Well, don't just stand there, go in and petition for your watch!" Margo said to him as they stood at the entrance of the warrens of the dwarves. 

"We can't just petition them!" Alice told her. "The only reason they gave it to Jane was because Martin posed a huge threat. We need to show them that if we can get one we can stop the bad things from happening."

"There's a long list of those." Margo mused, a smile on her face. 

"We should camp for the night and come up with what we're going to tell them for tomorrow morning. I didn't come all this way to be told no. I need this." He said to them, a determination settling into him.

Margo and Alice looked at each other and then nodded in agreement with him. 

They spent the night around the table coming up with the things to say that they thought would be most likely to get him the pocket watch. They all came up with good ideas, but the one thing they came down to was to make sure they talked about how important Quentin was to Jane and Fillory. Margo and Alice both told him that he also needed to tell the dwarves how important Q was to him as well and the fact that Hades laughed at their attempts. He would petition the dwarves, but Alice and Margo would be right beside him. He wasn't sure he would be able to do it if they weren't there with him. 

~~~~

Early the next morning, he walked outside of the tent, cup of coffee in hand and watched the Fillorian sunrise. 

"You're being the epitome of a Folgers commercial right now." Margo smirkingly said when she walked out of the tent to join him. 

"Ha ha ha." He quipped back, "No, although I wouldn't say no if they hired me. I'm just trying to get some more courage before I go in there with you and petition them."

Margo moved to rub his arm, "We have your back and listen if they so no I'll pull the High King of Fillory card."

"You always pull the High King of Fillory card." Alice jokingly said as she joined them outside. 

He put the coffee cup back in the kitchenette and after he came outside again he packed the tent up. 

They walked hand in hand to the entrance and after he took a few deep breaths, they went inside. 

It wasn't at all like those mountain caves he remembered from that hobbit movie Quentin had made him watch back before they had faced the Beast. Q had been sick and watching them on his laptop in bed when Eliot had walked in with chicken noodle soup and a cup of tea. Eliot had decidedly joined Quentin in watching and then proceeded to ask questions about everything. He'd seen them before with Margo, but he enjoyed making Quentin flustered. 

"Who goes there?" a voice boomed out into the darkness as they made their way down the rocky little path. Alice had made a little light for them to see. 

“The High King of Fucking Fillory!” Margo answered in a rather almost equally booming voice. 

“Oh, what do you want?” the voice asked back and as they continued down the path it was soon realized that this voice belonged to one of the dwarves. 

They came out from the path into a large cavern. The dwarf was sitting on a large rock chair fiddling with some sort of clockwork. The dwarf seemed average dwarf height and did not look like the dwarves that movie Quentin had made him watch. 

“We just came to petition you is all for one of your beautiful pieces of artwork.” Eliot replied in a sugary sweet tone.

The dwarf gave him a look. 

“What’s your name?” Alice asked him. 

“Tuggan.” He answered her matter-of-factly. 

“I’m Alice, this is Eliot, and of course High King Margo.” 

“So you want something huh?” Tuggan asked them. 

“We do, um it’s a long story.” Eliot told him.

“I’ve got time. In case you weren’t aware, we live a long time.” Well okay then sarcastic Tuggan I can deal with, Eliot thought. 

“Well, it all started with a boy.” Eliot began. 

“Most things do.” Tuggan interrupted. 

“Yes, well Quentin is the boy and we need to get him back which is why we’re here. I did a bad thing and then another not great thing that turned into me being possessed by a monster and Quentin tried to get me back and he did, but he died in the process. I need him back. We need him back. I love him and I would live a thousand lifetimes over if I could just spend more time with him, so could we please have a pocket watch to reset time like the one you gave to Jane?” He hadn’t realized he was crying or his voice had gone hoarse until the end of his speech. He had gone a little off book, but what the hell. 

Tuggan just looked at him, “Okay.” 

“Okay?!” Margo asked incredulously, “Okay? Just Okay without anything else to say. I mean we all had speeches and his speech was goddamned good, but we thought you need more?”

“No. His speech was fine. You just needed to ask, I mean I’m not Ogden or Verklumpf, they need huge long speeches. I’m fine with someone just asking.”

“Well who did Jane ask?” Alice spoke up. 

“Oh that was Dale. Dale loves the theatrics. Me not so much. So you want a pocket watch to reset time?” Tuggan asked. 

“Yes” Alice, Margo and Eliot replied in unison. 

“Okay. Give me a few minutes.”

~~~~

Tuggan had made them the pocket watch and it was the most beautiful thing Eliot had ever seen. 

“You gonna press it or just stare at it?” Margo teased. 

They’d walked back to the clearing where they had camped earlier. 

Alice gave her a pointed look. Margo just mouthed _What?_ back at her. 

“Listen El honey, take as much time as you need. We love you and we’ve done the spell so everyone that needs to will keep their memories.”

He kissed her forehead, “I know, I just, I can’t believe I actually have it in my hand. Two and a half weeks ago this was just a crazy idea I had. Now, it’s a reality and I can press this and have him back, but I’ll be back _there_ and what if I fuck it up again?”

“Eliot, you are not going to fuck it up again. You’re gonna be brave remember?” Alice asked him. 

He nodded back at her, took a deep breath, and pressed. 

Darkness engulfed them.


End file.
